Key figures in US-China trade talks
- by Rex Christensen
- in Economy
- — Feb 1, 2019
The two sides will meet next door to the White House in the highest-level talks since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed a 90-day truce in their trade war in December.
"That doesn't mean you're going to have a deal but there's a tremendous relationship and a warm feeling". "Very comprehensive transaction", he wrote.
While the administration says its prosecution of Huawei is not related to the trade talks, the case illustrates what authorities have described as a long-standing problem in China.
People familiar with the talks said manufactured goods, a key priority for the Trump administration, were among the largest components of Chinese purchase pledges aimed at significantly reducing the USA trade deficit with China.
The talks were threatened to be overshadowed by Monday's indictment by USA prosecutors of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies. "There's still work to be done, there are still gaps in some of the important issues, and we're hopeful that the two sides will work through this in a continuing, constructive and positive manner".
To pressure Beijing, the White House has imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports. But people familiar with the discussions say the USA side itself has yet to agree internally on what the right mechanism to enforce any agreement would be. Trump has set a March 2 deadline for increasing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent.
-China trade talks. Reuters reported that groups, such as the U.S.
But there was little concrete evidence they bridged yawning differences over the toughest issues such as China's policy on intellectual property and the heavy involvement of the state in its economy.
March 2 is the point at which the USA would escalate import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese goods if there was no deal.
Top US and Chinese trade officials returned to the bargaining table Wednesday, January 30, working to avoid a sharp escalation in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Trump had tweeted earlier Thursday that a final deal would not be made until he and Xi meet in the "near future".
Chinese officials are in Washington, D.C., this week for negotiations with top US officials as the world's top two economies seek and end their trade dispute. According to him, without that, the deal would be unacceptable.
They will meet with the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House trade advisor Peter Navarro.
Chinese officials have said their policies do not coerce technology transfers.
However, Trump said that he desired to meet with Xi to iron out some "long standing and more hard points" that continue to prevent the two economic superpowers from ending the trade war.
China has pledged to increase its purchases of United States soybeans, as the two countries attempt to hammer out a trade deal.
But Trump also may appear weakened after agreeing to end a 5-week government shutdown without extracting any concessions from opposition Democratic lawmakers in a battle over funding to build a wall on the Mexican border.
